What did you hear on mother's knee?
Eric Berge
In Article<64i8hk$rkb$2...@news.ycc.yale.edu>, <HE...@biomed.med.yale.edu>
writes:
> Here's the first folksong I ever heard:
>
> I gave my love a cherry that had no stone.
SNIP riddle song (picture me seizing the guitar from his hands,
smashing it against a wall, twitching my eyebrows, and grunting
"sorry")
NOTE - if you don't get the reference, go rent the movie "Animal
House" again.
> It was my mother's usual lullaby (to any Appalachian-folk experts
> who recognized it: yes, she's from East Tennessee and learned it
> from the folk process itself.)
>
> What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
That's actually the most interesting question I've seen asked here
in a while.
I don't recall my parents actually singing folk songs at me; to the limits
of what was then my understanding (my earliest memories start at about age
3), they sang _songs_.
In any case, in no particular order, and not counting liturgical music:
Mother: Zhankoye
Tumbalalaika
Don't rembember the title - went "Bingo-bango-bongo/I don't want
to leave the Congo/I don't want to go..."
Title? "The shots and shells were flying/Across the battlefield/
The boys in blue were fighting/Their noble flag to shield..." she
probably learned it from her parents, who were fond of turn of the
century music hall stuff.
Various Gilbert&Sullivan stuff ("I have a song to sing-Oh!/What is
your song-Oh?..."
Beatles tunes
She also made an attempt to make me memorize the first chapter of the Iliad
in Greek when I was about 4; don't know if that counts as folk, although it
certainly was in oral currency at one time (I can still do the first couple of
lines, and will if you pour a bottle of wine into me).
Father: Avanti, Popolo! (sp? don't speak Italian.)
Johnny Comes Marching Home
Some G&S ("My object most sublime/I shall achieve in time/To make the
punishment fit the crime...")
Whistled _A_LOT_; classical, Sousa marches, civil war songs, Russian
stuff (Meadowlands; the Internationale (yes, I know it's not
Russian), very eclectic.
Maternal Grandparents: Much music hall stuff - "She had rings on her fingers/
And bells on her toes/Elephants to ride upon..."
Some yiddish songs; don't remember specifics.
Paternal Grandparents: Don't know if they ever sang a note in their lives.
Eric Berge
(remove _ for address)
Kimberly C Healy
Here's the first folksong I ever heard:
I gave my love a cherry that had no stone.
I gave my love a chicken that had no bone.
I gave my love a ring that had no end.
I gave my love a baby with no cryin'.
How can there be a cherry without a stone?
How can there be a chicken without a bone?
How can there be a ring without an end?
How can there be a baby with no cryin'?
A cherry, when it's bloomin', it has no stone.
A chicken, when it's pippin', it has no bone.
A ring, when it's rollin', it has no end.
A baby, when it's sleepin', there's no cryin'.
It was my mother's usual lullaby (to any Appalachian-folk experts
who recognized it: yes, she's from East Tennessee and learned it
from the folk process itself.)
If I ever have kids I'll learn Calum Sgaire in the original Gaelic
and sing them that.
What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
Kim
Timothy Jaques
Kimberly C Healy <HE...@biomed.med.yale.edu> wrote in article
<64i8hk$rkb$2...@news.ycc.yale.edu>...
>
> What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
>
> Kim
>
Don't go in the lions' cage tonight, Mother dear,
For the lions are ferocious and they bite, Mother dear,
And if they take a hairy fit, they will tear you all to bits,
So don't go in the lions' cage tonight, Mother dear.
There was also the one about the lady and the crocodile sailing down the
Nile, with her exclaiming how tame he is. It ends "And the smile was on
the crocodile"; Can't remember all the lyrics except it begins "She sailed
away on a bright and sunny day on the back of a crocodile . . ."
cheers,
--
Timothy Jaques tja...@netcom.ca
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
"Common sense is that set of prejudices we attain by the age of eighteen."
Jeri Corlew
On 14 Nov 1997 19:24:36 GMT, HE...@biomed.med.yale.edu (Kimberly C Healy)
wrote:
>Here's the first folksong I ever heard:
>
<snip>
>What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
>
Mom sang the usual kiddie stuff - lullabies, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" - with an
occasional "Eight to the Bar" or "Ballin' the Jack" thrown in.
Dad was tone deaf, but loved to sing. I remember "Long, Long Trail" (from
WWI), "Mademoiselle from Armatiers" (as censored by my mother), and "The
Trail of the Lonesome Pine". This last one was not the original, which
possibly isn't a folk song anyway. (?) It was about a cow that was hit by
a train. (Now her head's in the hills of Kentucky, and her tail's in the
lonesome pine, or something.) Anybody have a clue what I'm talking about?
Incidentally, most of the singing in my family occurred on car trips.
Jeri
Anti-Spam Alert
Please replace "nonet" with "inet" in my address when replying.
Stephen Suffet
Kimberly C Healy wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
>
Greetings---
My mom used to play a Martin ukelele and would sing me what she
called folksongs:
Toot-Toot-Tootsie Goodbye
Meet Me in Saint Louie, Louie
Alexander's Ragtime Band
When the Saints Go Marching In
Balling the Jack
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?
Ain't She Sweet?
A Tisket, a Tasket
Later, despite her aversion for what she called hillbilly music,
she would sing Wabash Cannonball for me. I could even get her to sing
Sixteen Tons.
Her favorite tunes, however, were ones from Billie Holiday's
repertoire:
It Had to Be You
Good Morning Heartache
God Bless the Child
Willow Weep for Me
Just Too Marvelous
(I still have all her Billie Holiday LPs. The 78s she chucked
long before she passed away.)
And then there were a couple of political songs, but usually well
hidden. My dad had at one time been an active member of the Longshore-
man's Union, and I do remember playing Patty Cake to the words and
tune of Union Maid. Try it some time! :-)
Regards,
Steve
rl...@tcnet.net
> >Here's the first folksong I ever heard:
Mother sang "Pretty Polly," "500 Miles," "Cockles and Mussels" and
anything Roy Acuff ever sang on the radio the night before. (Somehow I
think repeated hearings of "Great Speckled Bird" are responsible for
this growing folk art collection...)
Kenneth Burns
>Kimberly C Healy wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>>
>
One of the first I remember her singing:
What'll we do with the baby-o
What'll we do with the baby-o
What'll we do with the baby-o
When he won't go to sleepy-o
Dance him north and dance him south
Dance him north and dance him south
Dance him north and dance him south
And pour a little moonshine in his mouth
There were other verses, but that's the only one that's stuck for some
reason.
Mom used to take her guitar to my nursery school and lead us in folk tunes
as well as the more usual children's fare. She was a Pete Seeger and
didn't know it.
Ken
Eric Berge
In Article<NEWTNews.879581095.7778.Eric_Berge@tirnanog>, <e_db...@ibm.net>
writes:
> In Article<64i8hk$rkb$2...@news.ycc.yale.edu>, <HE...@biomed.med.yale.edu>
> writes:
>
> > Here's the first folksong I ever heard:
> > What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
>
(After some more pleasant reminiscing about my previous reply)
Now that I think about it, I recall getting dosed with a fair amount of
WWI-era tunes - Pack Up Your Troubles; It's A Long Way To Tipperary;
Over There.
I think these were favorites of my Grandparents.
Greg Bullough
Most of the stuff I recall as a kid was recorded. Like:
My grandfather's favorite 45 had Lonnie Donegan's 'My Old
Man's a Dustman' on it. Being from Manchester must have
been part of that.
Since my father was a folkie, I remember a lot of Weavers
and Christy Minstrels and such. Especially Pete Seeger's
Birds & Beasts album.
Burl Ives' kids records I can recall.
And then there were the hilarious Jim Copp kid's records
Thankfully, I am far too old to have been saddled with the like
of 'Baby Beluga.' That song sends me questing for a harpoon.
Greg
Joseph C Fineman
HE...@biomed.med.yale.edu (Kimberly C Healy) writes:
>What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
According to my baby book:
By 2 1/2 years, knew about 25 nursery rhymes, sang most of them,
carrying tunes perfectly
_Hymns_
Lead Kindly Light
Jesus Bids Us Shine
Blessed Jesus
Silent Night
Frere Jacques
Au Clair de la Lune
Aupres de ma Blonde
Kommt a Vogel
Muss i denn
Ah wie ist's mo"glich
Von meinem Bergli
Guten Abend, Gute Nacht
Oif'n Pripitchook
Rozhinkas mit Mandeln
Come, Le's Play We're Indians
Here Comes the Sandman
Lovely May
I regret to say that I have forgotten about half of them.
Almost certainly the first song I ever heard is "Rozhenkes mit
Mandeln" (Raisins and Almonds). It probably should count as a folk
song, tho it began in a musical play about a century ago, by Abraham
Goldfaden, about whom I know nothing. I have the text my mother wrote
out to learn while she was in the hospital. I sang it just last week,
at a party, for my 60th birthday.
--- Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com
||: Feeling better? Watch out! :||
Joseph C Fineman
jer...@nonet.att.co.kr (Jeri Corlew) writes:
>Trail of the Lonesome Pine". This last one was not the original,
>which possibly isn't a folk song anyway. (?) It was about a cow that
>was hit by a train. (Now her head's in the hills of Kentucky, and
>her tail's in the lonesome pine, or something.) Anybody have a clue
>what I'm talking about?
This is the way my mother sang it (ca. 1945):
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginny
Stood a cow on a railroad track.
She was a good old cow, with eyes so fine,
But you couldn't expect a cow to read a railroad sign,
So she stood in the middle of the track,
And the train came and hit her right in the back.
You'll find her head in the mountains of Virginny
And her tail on her lonesome spine.
--- Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com
||: First you go to hell, then your body rots, and then you die. :||
secret muse
songs my mother sang to me:1950s
hong kong blues
yakety yak
hand me down my walkin' cane
futiakisaki want some seafood,mama
nina nana
pvc
--
"the blues ain't no cause for jumpin'...
- the blues is just by itself." -SON HOUSE
http://www.megasaver.com/page2/ad4.html
Steven Sellors
My mother used to sing "Big Bamboo" not realizing it was a double entendre
song. She thought bamboo was bamboo and coconuts were coconuts. Years later I
thought of the song and was singing it to myself and relized the "R" rated
truth.
If you see my Mother, please don't tell her. She still thinks "a Chinaman
named Dick Hung Lo" is just a name.
--
Steven Sellors
Grand Bay, NB, Canada
Matb
> On further reflection, my mother quite often sang this one:
> "My baby has gone down the plug hole
> My baby has gone down the plug
> The poor little mite was so skinny and thin
> It should have been washed in a jug"
> (I still have a 78 of this somewhere)
Believe it or not, this was done by Cream on (iirc) Disraeli Gears.
-Mb
A motherer was washing her baby one night
The youngest of ten, and a terrible sight.
The mother was poor, and her baby was thin,
twas naught but an skellington, covered with skin.
The mother turned round....
Jeri Corlew
On Sat, 15 Nov 1997 23:03:57 GMT, j...@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman)
wrote:
>jer...@nonet.att.co.kr (Jeri Corlew) writes:
>
>>Trail of the Lonesome Pine". This last one was not the original,
>>which possibly isn't a folk song anyway. (?) It was about a cow that
>>was hit by a train. (Now her head's in the hills of Kentucky, and
>>her tail's in the lonesome pine, or something.) Anybody have a clue
>>what I'm talking about?
>
>This is the way my mother sang it (ca. 1945):
>
> In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginny
> Stood a cow on a railroad track.
> She was a good old cow, with eyes so fine,
> But you couldn't expect a cow to read a railroad sign,
> So she stood in the middle of the track,
> And the train came and hit her right in the back.
> You'll find her head in the mountains of Virginny
> And her tail on her lonesome spine.
>
Somebody (Hi, George) e-mailed me for the lyrics which I couldn't remember.
I did find the song in "The Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book" by
Marcia and John Pankake.
Your version sounds more like the one I remember - thanks for the lyrics!
On further reflection, my mother quite often sang this one:
"My baby has gone down the plug hole
My baby has gone down the plug
The poor little mite was so skinny and thin
It should have been washed in a jug"
(I still have a 78 of this somewhere)
And people wonder how I turned out the way I have...
Peter Wilton
Joseph C Fineman <j...@world.std.com> writes
>Almost certainly the first song I ever heard is "Rozhenkes mit
>Mandeln" (Raisins and Almonds).
I've a CD (UK record company) of Jewish songs of which that is the title
track. The only thing about him in the the notes is:
"Some of these songs are anonymous folk songs from the oral tradition;
others are popular songs by known composers, such as Mark
Warshawsky (1848-1907), the 'Yiddish Robert Burns'. An important
institution in the history of Ashkenazi popular music was the Yiddish
theatre of Abraham Goldfaden (1848-1908), compose of the famous
_Rozhinkes mit Mandlen_. Several of the songs of Goldfaden and
Washawsky have been accepted as 'traditional' by Jews during the last
century."
But wait! There's an article in Britannica:
Goldfaden, Abraham,
original name ABRAHAM GOLDENFODEN, Yiddish AVRON
GOLDFADN (b. July 24 [July
12, old style], 1840, Starokonstantinov, Russia--d. Jan. 9, 1908, New York
City), Hebrew and
Yiddish poet and playwright and originator of Yiddish theatre and opera.
Goldfaden published volumes of Hebrew and Yiddish poems before his
graduation from a
rabbinical seminary at Zhitomir in 1866. He then taught in Russia until
migrating in 1875 to Poland,
where he founded two Yiddish newspapers. After several failures in
journalism he moved to
Romania, where he organized at Iassi, in 1876, what is generally
recognized as the first Yiddish
theatre. He toured Romania and Russia, and, in 1883, when Yiddish plays
were prohibited in
Russia, he established his theatre in Warsaw. In 1887 he migrated to
New York City, where he
established the first illustrated Yiddish periodical, but his work in the
established Yiddish theatre
encountered strong opposition, and he returned to London two years later.
He reorganized the
Yiddish theatre that had been founded there the previous year but again
encountered hostility from
the actors. In 1903 he finally settled in New York, where he opened a
dramatic school. Since many
of his dramatic works are set to his own music, he is also considered to
be the founder of Yiddish
opera. Among his nearly 400 plays are David at War (the first Hebrew
play produced in the U.S.;
first performed, 1904), Shulamit (considered his masterwork, 1880), and
Bar Kochba (1882).
--
Peter Wilton
The Gregorian Association Web Page:
http://www.beaufort.demon.co.uk/chant.htm
Woolley73
My mom, being a Woodstock audience member, and a very good musician,
raised my on folk music.
My favorite childhood songs were "Puff the Magic Dragon" (and when I
learned what it was really about, boy was I crushed)
"The Fox Went Out on the Town-O"
and a Gaelic Lullaby :
"Go to sleep now
Go to sleep now
Birdie - nee
Birdie - nee
Close your eyes now
Close your eyes now
wee small bird"
and then she sang the whole thing over in Gaelic, which I never did figure
out how she learned, considering we were Russian/German Jews in New York.
Steph
Steven Sellors
Woolley73 wrote:
> My favorite childhood songs were "Puff the Magic Dragon" (and when I
> learned what it was really about, boy was I crushed)
Note to those who know the truth: PLEASE don't start THAT thread again.
Amy Fonoroff
Funny, I don't remember my mother singing. My father sang a lot, however.
I remember a lot of Burl Ives stuff, Seeger, The Fox (previously
mentioned) is one I remember, Wee Cooper o' Fife, and the one I'm dying
to know if it was a real song or not - Who Hit Nelly in the Belly With a
Flounder!
LT Silverman
In article Timothy Jaques, tja...@netcom.ca writes:
>There was also the one about the lady and the crocodile sailing down the
>Nile, with her exclaiming how tame he is. It ends "And the smile was on
>the crocodile"; Can't remember all the lyrics except it begins "She sailed
>away on a bright and sunny day on the back of a crocodile . . ."
Been racking my brain for days about the above song. Went to my cheat
book that I had as a camp counselor and couldn't find it there although I
know we sang it.
To save my sanity, does anyone have these words? Thanks
LTSilverman
ltsi...@borg.com
Derek R. Larson
In article <19971116224...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
I forgot that one! We had a Harry Belefonte (sp?) LP with that song on it
and I listened to it so much my mother began singing the song to me also.
I just loved that song...
-drl
--
________________________________________________________________________
Derek R. Larson Indiana University Department of History
"Eastward I go by force, but Westward I go free!" -H. D. Thoreau
-----------------------php.indiana.edu/~drlarson------------------------
Derek R. Larson
My mom played guitar and sang to me a lot, which is probably why I picked
up guitar myself and started to perform in college. She was into the
typical 60s folk stuff and Woody Guthrie...I recall hearing "Me and
Bobby McGee," "500 Miles," "This Land is Your Land," "Puff," and "This
Train" all the time as a child. She stopped playing when I was about 6-7
years old for some reason, too bad. I was actually pretty funny to end up
singing the same songs to her 20 years later.
-derek
Joseph C Fineman
Steven Sellors <ssel...@nbnet.nb.ca> writes:
>My mother used to sing "Big Bamboo" not realizing it was a double
>entendre song.
When I was a kid, we sang "Schnitzelbank" without knowing what it
meant. At the age of about 50, I got around to looking up the words,
and all of a sudden got the picture of randy adolescents in a youth
hostel, singing Freudian images at the tops of their voices, until the
Herbergsvater arrived with his helles Licht to tell the to shut up &
go to sleep. It brightened a whole month.
--- Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com
||: If you think you've said something smart about the mind-body :||
||: problem, try it out on the wave-water problem. :||
B.Swetman
My grandmother who is now 90 took my infant niece on her knee and sang a
song that went:
This is the way the ladies ride, ladies ride, ladies ride.
This is the way the ladies ride, [appropriate sounds and gentle movement
of baby here, I think it was maybe clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop]
Several more verses that I have forgotten for gentlemen, boys, etc.
The last verse being
This is the way the Hoosiers ride ... gallup-a gallup-a ...
The baby was bounced more vigourously with each verse.
The basic tune was really familiar, Mulberry Bush?
Joe Kesselman, yclept Keshlam
> "My baby has gone down the plug hole
> My baby has gone down the plug
> The poor little mite was so skinny and thin
> It should have been washed in a jug"
Clam Chowder used to perform that one. I don't know if it's Trad. or has
a real author; if that 78 of yours credits (or blames) the responsible
parties I'd appreciate that info!
Karen Neale
Kimberly C Healy wrote:
> What are others' first conscious memories of folk songs?
My mother sang me to sleep with such cheery tunes as:
Go tell Aunt Rhodie (sp?)
Go tell Aunt Rhodie
Go tell Aunt Rhodie
The old gray goose is dead
(anyone with info about that song?)
On the other hand, she and my dad owned an album that really turned me
on to folk music from the start; it's one by the Limeliters.
This summer, when they were moving and giving away their stuff, I
grabbed that album for my own. It's a treasure to me!
Karen Neale kf...@virginia.edu
Lynn and Wayne Sabin
LT Silverman (ltsi...@borg.com) wrote:
She sailed away on a sunny summer day
On the back of a crocodile
" You see," said she, " he's as tame as tame can be.
I'll ride him down the Nile."
The croc winked his eye as she bade them all goodbye
Wearing a happy smile.
At the end of the ride the lady was inside
And the smile was on the croc-o-dile.
(From my memory of one of the ubiquitous "Wee Sing" tapes
that have taken over my car).
Lynn Sabin
Eric Berge
In Article<mbowen-ya02408000...@news.frontiernet.net>,
<mbo...@frontiernet.net> writes:
>
> In article <EJpnH...@world.std.com>, j...@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman)
> wrote:
> Regarding songs learned at mother's knee:
>
> > Muss i denn
>
> That's the one song remember my mother singing to me. Does anyone have an
> English translation of the words?
Sure (from the liner notes of "Erich Kunz sings German University Songs,
vol. II", on Vanguard Classics OVC6010) -
Abschiedlied Farewell Song
Muss i denn, muss i denn Must I then, must I then,
Zum Städtele naus Leave this dear little town,
Und du mein Schatz, bleibst hier? And you my love stay here?
chorus:
Wenn i komm, wenn i komm, When I come, when I come,
Wenn i wiederum komm, wiedrum komm When I come back again,
Kehr i ein mein Schatz, bei dir! I'll return to you my love.
Kann i gleich net allweil bei dir sein, I cannot always stay with you,
Han i doch mein Freud an dir; Still you are my only joy.
(chorus)
Actually, their are alot more verses to it than this; the liner notes to
my copy of "German Folk Songs Sung by Martha Schlamme" (Smithsonian
Folkways 06843) gives the following, with no translation (and my German
is really not up to the task):
(Same first and second verses and chorus)
Wie du weinst, wie du weinst,
Dass i wandere muss, wandere muss,
Wie wenn Lieb jetzt wer vorbei.
Sind au drauss, sind au drauss,
Der Mädele viel, Mädele viel,
Lieber Schatz i bleib dir treu
Denk du net, wenn iI ein andre seh,
So sei mein Lieb vorbei.
Sind au drauss, sind au drauss,
Der Mädele viel, Mädele viel,
Lieber Schatz i bleib dir treu
Übers Jahr, übers Jahr,
Wenn mir Traübele schneid, Traübele schneid,
Stell i hier mi wiedrum ein.
Bin i dann, bin i dann,
Dein Schätzele noch, Schätzele noch,
So soll die Hochzeit sein.
Übers Jahr, da ist mein Zeit vorbei,
Da g'hör i mein und dein,
Bin i dann, bin i dann,
Dein Schätzele noch, Schätzele noch,
So soll die Hochzeit sein.
NOTE - I substituted umlauted letters for "ae" combinations in the
Folkways liner notes; I have also corrected a few of what appeared to
me to be obvious misprints, usually in conjunction with another source.
None of the three printed sources I have gives a complete translation;
I'll ask my sister, whose German is quite good (or at least a lot better
than mine) if she can work something up, and get back to the group on it.
By the way, I noticed while typing this up that this song has a rather
unusual structure - a three line verse, a three line chorus, a two line
verse, a repeat of the chorus, and then a repeat of the same structure, but
with a new three line chorus (if you can call it that, under the
circumstances); the whole repeated three times.
Does anyone know if this is out of the ordinary in German folk music? It
certainly would be highly unusual in English.
Michael Bowen
In article <EJpnH...@world.std.com>, j...@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman)
wrote:
Regarding songs learned at mother's knee:
> Muss i denn
That's the one song remember my mother singing to me. Does anyone have an
English translation of the words?
Michael Bowen
--
Never trust a posting by someone with a .sig line by Robert Heinlein.
Uncle Bob
Amy Fonoroff (ZXX...@prodigy.com) wrote:
: Funny, I don't remember my mother singing. My father sang a lot, however.
I don't remember mom singing either. My first memory of a "legit" folk
song was "Froggy Went a Courtin'" when I was in YMCA summer camp in
Michigan.
--
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Uncle Bob..............unclebob@ripco.com
Paul J. Stamler
Early stuff included songs by Lead Belly: "Green Corn", "The Grey Goose",
"Pick a Bale of Cotton". Woody's "Songs to Grow On", which I'm afraid I've
forgotten. "Sinking of the Reuben James" (a 78 by the Almanac Singers).
Pete Seeger (both of the "Birds Beasts Bugs..." LPs). The "Talking Union"
LP. Richard Dyer-Bennet ("Blow the Candles Out", "Golden Vanity", "Foggy
Foggy Dew").
But I think the very first song I remember is "Standing on the Corner
(Watching All the Girls Go By)". For what that's worth.
Of stuff I heard my mother sing, the only thing that sticks in my head
is "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair". My dad used to sing a lot
of English music hall songs: "Roll a Bowl a Ball", "My Bonnie". And he
whistled "Col. Bogey" endlessly. In fact, he still does.
Peace.
Paul
Brittles
The earliest I remember (circa '52 or '53) was from my Irish maternal
grandmother (who used to care for us) - a "baby-bouncing" song:
Chup, chup, my little horse,
Chup, chup, again,
How many miles to Dublin?
Five score and ten.
Will we be there by candelight?
Yes, and back again.
Chup, chup, my little horse,
Chup, chup, again.
Also, a recitation about "...little men..." "marching through the glen"
and a line with "white owl's feather" - not folk - It was by a 19th century
poet I found out later. Found out many years later that my "Nana" learned how
to thatch roofs as a girl in Ireland - and that her brother played concertina
(which I never saw him play - unfortunately!).
From my Mom (who unfortunately, thought she "couldn't" sing) - Clementine (from
the Weavers hit no doubt).
My dad used to play uke, and sing "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (agin, not folk - but
maybe I should copy this to the thread about "What will be folk in 50 years"!)
There were others, but these were what came to mind first. Eventually, when I
learned to play - we used to sing typical camp songs in the car - to my
baritone uke accompaniment.
One for the season from the Surra/Britt family:
A turkey sat on a backyard fence,
And he sang this sad, sad, tune:
"Thanksgiving Day is coming,
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble,
And I know I'll be eaten soon!"
"Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble,
I would like to run away."
"Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble,
I don't like Thanksgining Day!"
Ed Britt
Brit...@aol.com
Jeri Corlew
On 18 Nov 1997 22:48:04 GMT, kes...@alum.mit.edu (Joe Kesselman, yclept
Keshlam) wrote:
Aw, darn. My 78s are in storage, and I won't be reunited with them until
March or April. If you want me to check then, e-mail me at dji...@aol.com
I can't remember the singers name. Famous female singer of humorous songs.
I might possibly recognize the name if I heard it. This record is part of
an album. I'll bet the record says the song was written by Anon, though.
Sorry I can't help more now.
Jinxblues
What did I hear at my mother's knee?
Well, a lot of creaking and popping sounds . . .
Mom did have arthritis pretty badly . . .
Derek R. Larson
In article <64ud4s$4bp$3...@nnrp1.crl.com>,
Paul J. Stamler <psta...@crl9.crl.com> wrote:
>Early stuff included songs by Lead Belly: "Green Corn", "The Grey Goose",
>"Pick a Bale of Cotton". Woody's "Songs to Grow On", which I'm afraid I've
Just FYI, this is out on a new CD with the Guthrie clan singing along with
old tapes of Woody. Highly recommended. Better still is the book-- they
found Woody's manuscript and watercolors and have published the book as he
and Marjorie intended it to be in the late 1940s. We've been giving
copies of each to all our friends that have had babies recently (we're at
that age).
-drl
Eric Berge
I
> In Article<mbowen-ya02408000...@news.frontiernet.net>,
> <mbo...@frontiernet.net> writes:
> >
> > In article <EJpnH...@world.std.com>, j...@world.std.com (Joseph C
Fineman)
> > wrote:
> > Regarding songs learned at mother's knee:
> >
> > > Muss i denn
> >
> > That's the one song remember my mother singing to me. Does anyone have an
> > English translation of the words?
As promised, here's the whole thing with translation.
Abschiedlied Farewell Song
Muss i denn, muss i denn Must I then, must I then,
Zum Staedtele naus Leave this dear little town,
Und du mein Schatz, bleibst hier? And you my love stay here?
Wenn i komm, wenn i komm, When I come, when I come,
Wenn i wiederum komm, wiedrum komm When I come back again,
Kehr i ein mein Schatz, bei dir! I'll return to you my love.
Kann i gleich net allweil bei dir sein, I cannot always stay with you,
Han i doch mein Freud an dir; Still you are my only joy.
Wenn i komm, wenn i komm, When I come, when I come,
Wenn i wiederum komm, wiedrum komm When I come back again,
Kehr i ein mein Schatz, bei dir! I'll return to you my love.
Wie du weinst, wie du weinst, How you cry, how you cry,
Dass i wandere muss, wandere muss, That I must travel (wander), that I
must travel
Wie wenn Lieb jetzt wer vorbei. As if love were gone.
Sind au drauss, sind au drauss, If there are out there (I don't know
what 'au' is)
Der Maedele viel, Maedele viel, Many maids, many maids
Lieber Schatz i bleib dir treu Dear heart, I would remain true to you
Denk du net, wenn i ein andre seh, Don't think, when I see another
So sei mein Lieb vorbei. That my love will wither
Sind au drauss, sind au drauss, If there are out there
Der Maedele viel, Maedele viel, Many maids, many maids
Lieber Schatz i bleib dir treu Dear heart, I would remain true to you
Uebers Jahr, uebers Jahr, Over a year, over a year
Wenn mir Trauebele schneid, Trauebele schneid, when ..... (I don't have my
dictionary with me; Traube = grapes,
no? puzzling)
Stell i hier mi wiedrum ein. I will settle here again.
Bin i dann, bin i dann, Then I will be, then i will be
Dein Schaetzele noch, Schaetzele noch, Your sweetheart again, sweetheart
again
So soll die Hochzeit sein. And then the wedding will be.
Uebers Jahr, da ist mein Zeit vorbei, Over a year, then is my time up
Da g'hoer i mein und dein, Then we belong to each other
Bin i dann, bin i dann, Then I will be, then I will be
Dein Schaetzele noch, Schaetzele noch, Your sweetheart again, sweetheart
again
So soll die Hochzeit sein. And then the wedding will be
Ralf-Michael Thilo
On Fri, 21 Nov 1997, Eric Berge wrote:
> Date: Fri, 21 Nov 97 00:41:35
> From: Eric Berge <e_db...@ibm.net>
> Newsgroups: rec.music.folk
> Subject: Re: Muss I Denn (was Re: What did you hear on mother's knee? )
>
> As promised, here's the whole thing with translation.
>
> Abschiedlied Farewell Song
>
>
>
> Sind au drauss, sind au drauss, If there are out there (I don't know
> what 'au' is)
That's Swabian dialect for "auch" = "even" (as in "even if")
> Uebers Jahr, uebers Jahr, Over a year, over a year
> Wenn mir Trauebele schneid, Trauebele schneid, when ..... (I don't have my
dictionary with me; Traube = grapes,
no? puzzling)
"Traeubele" is the diminuitive of "Trauben" = "grapes"
(the Swabians *do* like to talk in diminuitives :} )
so it means "a year from today, when we'll be cutting grapes"
By the way, in case nobody has mentioned it, that song was a big hit for Elvis
in the late fifties in a very free translation as "Wooden Hearts"
(from the movie "GI-Blues")
Michael
Roger Gawley
I am fairly sure that it is traditional. Of far more note, although maybe
less folksy, it is the final track on Cream's best LP (now CD) "Disrali
Gears".
JesiAna
I remember Burl Ives, "The Bluetail Fly," which I didn't understand at all but
made a lasting impression upon me musically. My mother used to sing "There's a
Long, Long Trail A-Winding." Is that a folk song? I have no idea!
JesiAna
My mother used to sing "Motherless Child," I think. And "Hush, Little Baby," or
at least someone did. Mom couldn't sing...still can't...but the fact she smoked
1-2 packs a day back then sure didn't help! Now she is smoke-free, but still
can't sing. However, I let her hum along with me and don't say anything. This
is FOLK music...and she's great folks.
Jeri Corlew
On 29 Nov 1997 01:31:26 GMT, jes...@aol.com (JesiAna) wrote:
> My mother used to sing "There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding."
> Is that a folk song? I have no idea!
I mentioned waaay back in the thread that my dad used to sing this song.
John Roberts and Tony Barrand recorded this song on "A Present From the
Gentlemen" on Golden Hind Music (GHMCD101). It's in a medly with "The Old
Barbed Wire" and "Valley of the Shadow".
The little booklet thingie that comes with the CD (what the heck are those
things *supposed* to be called?) says that "There's a Long, Long Trail" is
a marching song composed in 1913 by Zo Elliot and Stoddard King.
Some people would say that the song's been passed around enough in oral
tradition to be considered "folk". And, it may come as a shock, but some
people would not agree.
BREWERPAUL
>What did you hear on mother's knee?
Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Paul Troy NY
SLHinton17
JesiAna says:
>My mother used to sing "There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding." Is that a >folk
song? I have no idea!
***********************
There's a Long Trail" was written in 1913 by Stoddard King (words) and Zo
Elliott (music). Is that now a folk song? I would say yes. BTW, in my Boy
Scout days (the early 1930s) we sang a parody that went:
There's a long, long nail a-grinding
Into the heel of my shoe.
And it feels as though it were stuck in
About a mile or two.
And when this hike is over
Then I will give one glad shout,
And sit down by the roadside
And pull that damn nail out!
My mother sang a lot of songs to me. The ones I chiefly remember are "The
Frog Song" (passed down from her maternal grandfather, Isham Hardy), "Old
Boastun Was Dead" ( an American version of "Old Pompey"), "A Froggy Went
A-Courting", "Grieve, Oh Grieve" (an American variant of "The Butcher's Boy")
and "Come, Josephine, In My Flying Machine." Dad sang especially "Swing Low,
Sweet Chari-oh," and "Goodbye My Lover Goodbye," to which he often made up
narrative verses.
It's good to see you on line! Hope you're having a happy season.
Sam Hinton
La Jolla, CA
Paul J. Stamler
JesiAna <jes...@aol.com> wrote:
: I remember Burl Ives, "The Bluetail Fly," which I didn't understand at all but
: made a lasting impression upon me musically. My mother used to sing "There's a
: Long, Long Trail A-Winding." Is that a folk song? I have no idea!
It's a popular song dating back to World War I. John Roberts & Tony
Barrand sang it on their CD "A Present from the Gentlemen", as part of a
WWI medley. It doesn't seem to have made its way into the tradition, though.
Peace.
Paul